Pittsburgh: Cathedral of Learning

Researching things to do in Pittsburgh and one kept piquing my interest: the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Inside this Gothic 42-story skyscraper are 31 rooms referred to as Nationality Rooms representing different countries and cultures. These spaces are still used as classrooms, as evidenced by the screens in each room. Having been educated in a public college mostly built post-World War II, my jaw dropped walking in these rooms. Each one transports you to a different world. The ones representing places where we visited we simply nodded and agreed in four walls, they captured the essence of that foreign place. For the other rooms it sparked my curiosity to visit someday.

The Pitt website has great images of all of the rooms. Most were on display the day we went--the benefit to going between semesters. Two rooms (the Syria-Lebanon room and the Early American room) are currently closed to visitors, but they have a glass door allowing people to look inside the rooms. The Korean Heritage room's floor was being refinished. For some reason the door to the Armenian room refused to unlock. I thought I could still sneak a peek at it on the audio app we downloaded to learn more, but it is opening for me. I can see it on their website.

The rooms are located on the first and third floors. Each one was designed by a committee from that country (or region). The Romanian room was first on display in the 1939 World's Fair. Some rooms (such as German) were based on traditional classrooms from that region, others (such as Swedish) were based on traditional homes. The committees seem to have been given a lot of latitude in creation. They are still involved with their upkeep.

The website is great because it makes seeing 31 rooms approachable by adding links on the bottom to rooms with similar traits. A lot of thought and planning went into creating the website, just as a lot of thought and planning went into creating the rooms. Many of the rooms were started after The Great Wall, but were not completed until after World War II. Israel was not commissioned until 1966 and dedicated in 1987. This was the first addition after a long break from building Nationality Rooms. African Heritage was dedicated two years later using features from different African countries.

Don, a lefty, noted his joy when he saw left-handed desks. A sore point for a kid who went to college in the 80s when he was lucky if there was one per classroom. Turkey outdid themselves in their room as each seat had the option of pulling down a left or right-handed desk, or leaving them both up or both down. Options! I wonder if this is due to it being built in the 21st century (2001-2012).

Much detail went into every single aspect of every single room from the windows to the flooring, ceilings, furniture, decorations. They were not each given the same blank slate to fill. Some were larger than others. Some were inside rooms, others faced outside. I was mesmerized and took more pictures than I should have given the excellent quality of images found on the Pitt website. 

I'll end with some anyway. Starting with the four-story Common room that feels like it could serve as a Hogwarts's set, it is an experience unlike any other I have taken. I could imagine each room being a portal that allows the heroine to jump between different worlds in order to save the universe. Maybe a 31-part series? Anyone interested in writing these books and adding a thank you to me for the idea? The rooms definitely feel magical.

Take the $10 audio tour and explore the magic.